Executive Summary. EVRN 615: Capstone Project Campus Tree Inventory and Tree Campus USA Joe Stogsdill, Scott Malone, Bryan Brooks, Elliot Sims

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1 EVRN 615: Capstone Project Campus Tree Inventory and Tree Campus USA Joe Stogsdill, Scott Malone, Bryan Brooks, Elliot Sims Executive Summary The campus tree inventory project seeks to begin work on achieving Objective 1.1 of the Campus Grounds mission of the University of Kansas Sustainability Plan. Objective 1.1 charges the university to, Preserve and enhance historic landscapes and open spaces on campus. One of the stated strategies to meet these objectives is earning Tree Campus USA status designated by the Arbor Day Foundation. This project group worked to ensure that the university made progress on fulfilling these objectives. The main objective of this project was to satisfy the service-learning requirement of Tree Campus USA recognition through the creation of a comprehensive and interactive digital campus tree inventory. Project group acquired and consolidated existing information to create a GIS framework for continual contribution to the tree inventory. The tree inventory allows for facilities staff to better monitor the condition and status of trees on campus and to efficiently plan for planting, maintenance, and removal. The inventory process is applicable to Environmental Studies Field Ecology objectives and allows students to get actively involved in the preservation of the campus environment. Initial data collection identified issues of inaccuracy with the technology and methodology. Future data collection could be improved through averaging functions on handheld GPS units, the creation of polygons rather than individual data points, or merely recording and imputing attributes on existing tree points on the incomplete campus blueprint base map. This project established the foundation for a centralized digital tree inventory. It provides opportunities for student involvement, education, and outreach, and satisfies the Arbor Day Foundation s fifth requirement to achieve Tree Campus USA status.

2 EVRN 615: Capstone Project Campus Tree Inventory and Tree Campus USA Joe Stogsdill, Scott Malone, Bryan Brooks, Elliot Sims Introduction The campus tree inventory project seeks to begin work on achieving Objective 1.1 of the Campus Grounds mission of the University of Kansas Sustainability Plan. Objective 1.1 charges the university to, Preserve and enhance historic landscapes and open spaces on campus. 1 One of the stated strategies to meet these objectives is earning Tree Campus USA status designated by the Arbor Day Foundation. This project group worked to ensure that the university made progress on fulfilling these objectives. The main objective of this project was to satisfy the service-learning requirement of Tree Campus USA recognition through the creation of a comprehensive and interactive digital campus tree inventory. The 5 Arbor Day Foundation Standards for Tree Campus USA Status 1. Campus Tree Advisory Board The first requirement for Tree Campus USA (TCUSA) status is the creation of a steering committee made up of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and community representatives to guide policy creation and implementation to achieve the other four requirements. The KU Campus Tree Advisory Board (CTAB) was created early in 2012 with one of the project group members serving as a proxy to ensure communication between both groups priorities, preferences, and progress. The CTAB met regularly through the semester in order to discuss actions required to fulfill the Arbor Day Foundation standards as well as organize events to foster education, outreach, and campus and community participation. 1 University of Kansas Sustainability Plan, 34. 1

3 2. Tree Care Plan The second requirement mandates the creation of a flexible comprehensive policy to be used in planting, maintenance, and removal of trees on campus. While the benefits of maintaining a healthy and diverse population of trees are evident (erosion prevention, CO2 exchange, aesthetics, etc.) little policy has been created to ensure a cohesive plan for proper management or the goal of a 1:1 tree replacement procedure. The Tree Care Plan must have a clear purpose and stated goals, and designate responsibility for implementation. The University Tree Care Plan would act as a centralized policy to enforce the preservation of campus spaces through sustainable methods. The Tree Care Plan requirement is the least completed standard that the university must still fulfill. 3. Tree Bank (Annual Funding) Another standard for TCUSA status requires the establishment of an annual fund for proper implementation of the Tree Care Plan and Arbor Day observance (see below). The annual funding is designed to cover expenses such as new trees, tools, materials, labor, and event costs. Funds could be collected through student fees ($3 per student suggested) or alumni donations to establish an endowed fund that could sustain the program. The CTAB began the process of fundraising by the latter route, seeking donations from alumni who appreciate campus aesthetics and support their preservation for future classes. Funds raised the first semester were used to cover the costs of the first Arbor Day event on campus. 4. Arbor Day Observance The Arbor Day Foundation further requires annual observance of Arbor Day through campus or community initiatives. The CTAB organized the first Arbor Day observance in March of 2012 under the title, Replant Mount Oread. The event consisted of the planting of ten Red Bud saplings and flowers along Jayhawk Boulevard where construction had removed existing vegetation. The event was held in honor of Chancellor Marvin leading a 2

4 group of students to plant hundreds of trees over a century ago in what is now known as Marvin Grove. 2 The event was used as both an opportunity to raise funds as well as outreach to get students more aware of and involved in the campus environment. 5. Service Learning The final requirement and most pertinent to this project for TCUSA status is the creation of service-learning opportunities for students to get involved with campus or community initiatives. Suggestions for the service-learning component include volunteer plantings or maintenance projects, internships with local forestry or parks departments, elementary education programs, or the creation of a tree inventory. Because of skills and technologies pertinent to the environmental studies department, the project group took on the task of creating a GIS map framework for the establishment of a comprehensive and interactive digital tree inventory for the university. The project group consolidated existing information and began data collection work in order to establish a methodology for future contribution. The group designed the inventory to be applicable to the skills and requirements of the Environmental Studies Field Ecology (EVRN 460) class in order to utilize class objectives to serve the needs of the project. The inventory design also contains all the necessary information to gauge overall status of trees on campus in order to efficiently carry out the Tree Care Plan as well as future CTAB policies. Tree Campus USA Case Studies In order to see what steps the University of Kansas could pursue to achieve Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation, the project group conducted a review of UC San Diego and Georgia Tech universities, which have achieved this designation. A review of examples of successful implementation can provide a framework 2 University of Kansas Sustainability Plan, 33. 3

5 for steps to follow and to observe the ways in which our campus may benefit from this achievement. University of California San Diego: The University of California San Diego achieved Tree Campus USA designation in 2008 and has maintained this status to present. Through collaborative efforts by the university s Landscape Services, faculty, student body, and San Diego community members, the maintenance of the campuses 200,000-tree urban forest has been accomplished. Presently, the University has not conducted any formal inventory of the trees on campus grounds. However, they believe the genus Eucalyptus accounts for nearly 90% of species on campus. UC San Diego outlined a number of goals they hoped to achieve related to their designation as a Tree Campus USA campus. Identifying ways the campus could reduce their carbon footprint was an important priority. Through the addition of more trees on campus grounds the university hoped to achieve an additional 5 metric tons of carbon reduction through annual tree planting events. Issues regarding funding for these events were addressed through student organized fundraisers, alumni donations, and volunteer work. The university s plan to reduce their carbon footprint revolved around a number of long-term goals. A list of these goals is provided below: Reducing storm water runoff and water pollution: Individual trees can trap and filter storm water at the rate of 100 gallons per year for a small eucalyptus to 2,200 gallons for a large conifer. Reducing heating costs by 10 to 25 percent and reducing air conditioning costs by 30 percent. The shade provided by mature trees can significantly reduce the running time of air conditioning units. 4

6 Sequestering carbon from the air: Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air, store carbon in their roots and soil, and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Increasing air quality: Trees absorb or intercept air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and ozone. UC San Diego s 200,000 trees already absorb an estimated 73 tons of air pollutants annually. Asphalt protection: A recent study found that shaded blocks required fewer than half as many resurfacings over a 30-year period, which can reduce costs by $0.66 per square foot. Although many of the newly planted trees are still too young for all the expected benefits to be realized, they expect full realization of their goals within 10 years. But the cultural and aesthetic benefits can be realized immediately. Even young trees beautify the campus, add to its history and sense of place, and feed or provide shelter to campus wildlife. Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech is an urban university located in downtown Atlanta. It was one of the first ten Tree Campus USA campuses. It has been named a Tree Campus USA since It has completed 13 reforestation projects on its 400-acre main campus since Georgia Tech has a Landscape Master Plan and a Campus Tree Care Plan. The Landscape Department within Facilities at Georgia Tech works to not only maintain and replace, but also increase the roughly 7,000 trees across their campus. Georgia Tech assembled a Tree Campus USA Committee comprised of students, area neighborhood representatives, and members across several of the institutes departments including: Facilities, Housing, Capital Planning and Space Management, Parking and Transportation, the Center for Geographical Information Systems, and the School of Biology. Georgia Tech realized the numerous environmental benefits that their into campus trees provided in that they are an effective means of absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere while also providing oxygen. They also 5

7 discovered the benefits that trees provide in their cooling effects during the summer months and their role in reducing storm water runoff into municipal drainage systems. Georgia Tech s Landscape Master Plan and Tree Care Plan were specifically drafted to address the issues surrounding these concerns with the following goals in mind. Facilitate the achievement of a 55% tree canopy on campus as well as a 22% woodlands coverage. Protect and maintain their campus urban forest by managing the impact of development and construction on campus trees Provide protection and to make sure that removal of all trees on their campus are conducted with proper consideration and an adequate replacement program is in place. In order to address the inventory of their campus trees, Georgia Tech has assigned the task to their Center for Geographical Information Systems to conduct a formal GIS survey. This inventory is currently still underway as the university realizes the time required for such a survey as well as the continual addition and removal trees on campus grounds. Methods and Recommendations for Future Data Collection In the project group s attempt to start a comprehensive tree inventory for the university it determined that the most effective way to manage such an immense amount of data was to establish an interactive GIS database. The use of GIS allows the user to maintain an attribute table in which pertinent information can be analyzed and managed. The group collected attributes for trees including diameter at breast height (DBH), species, common name, level of certainty of identification, and recommendation for removal according to a tree health assessment. More attributes could be added at any point according to the needs of the users. 6

8 The project groups methodology for data collection consisted of two groups of two to three individuals out in the field (In this case the surrounding area around Jayhawk Boulevard). Using handheld GPS units, the groups marked each individual tree as a data point. Standards to qualify a tree were subjective, but could be more standardized (such as a five foot height requirement or minimum DBH). Once marked, the tree would then be identified with a reasonable degree of certainty with the help of a tree key. A previously created tree packet attained from the KU herbarium aided identification by providing common species found on campus. Additionally, Shawn Harding, assistant director of landscape maintenance, accompanied the group into the field on two data collecting operations. His input was extremely helpful to the group as he provided tips and information for tree identification techniques that only someone with an immense amount of experience could offer. All attribute information was recorded in a journal to be entered into the GIS system along with the data points from the GPS. After the collection of field data the data management portion began. The data points collected using the hand held GPS units had to be entered into the GIS database using a GRN Garmin software utility installed on the computers in Lindley Hall. The software projects the points from the GPS unit into any coordinate system that the GIS database uses. To use the utility the data points are converted into a shapefile the way data is represented and used within a GIS system like Arc GIS. With the use of the Garmin software utility, projecting GPS points into a GIS database is a relatively simple process. It requires the software to be installed on the computer with the GIS database, a specialized USB cord, the GPS unit, and a general level of knowledge associated with GIS coordinate systems and file management within a computer system. The next step is to enter the attribute information 7

9 from the field journal into the attribute tables of the tree data point shapefile. This is a simple process that requires a user to enter the attribute information into the GIS database manually. Microsoft excel can also be used in this process by creating columns with desired attribute labels and pertinent information and importing the file into the Arc GIS program. The project group s methodology for data collection was effective in some aspects and flawed in others. The inaccuracy of our data points (see below) can be attributed to a lack of spatial resolution inherent to the GPS units available. The actual process of data collection in the field was good, however, the averaging function on the GPS units could be used in the future for increasing the hand held units accuracy. Another way to deal with the inaccuracy of the data points would be to use the GPS units track feature to establish a boundary surrounding the area of study instead of collecting a data point for each individual tree. The boundary would be projected into the GIS database as a polygon. In the field, researchers would collect information about the individual trees within the boundary, documenting the trees within the polygon and their attributes. The student could then enter that information into the attribute table of the polygon established later in the computer lab. This would minimize the inaccuracy associated with GPS marking of individual trees. Other suggestions for future data collection include using the existing campus survey blueprint. While this map does not mark the entirety of trees on campus, it was created with more accurate surveying equipment and contains markings of many of the trees on campus. In this way students could be given printouts of study areas as maps to orient them in their data collection. Although students would not necessarily be able to learn and utilize GPS marking skills as effectively with this strategy, it would still allow for collection of attribute 8

10 information (species, DBH, need for replacement, etc.) that would contribute to the completion of the inventory In future classes the instructor of the course should use the GIS database to zoom into a specific area of research using natural barriers such as roads, sidewalks, and buildings as boundaries. The instructor should then print off the image as a reference sheet to hand out to the research groups, allowing them to have a focused study area and eliminate any potential overlapping data points that could occur working with a class of twenty or more individuals split into five or six groups. Students should be provided with standardized data collection forms with all desired attribute columns. Instructors should be competent in tree identification for when students are uncertain, or should bring in an expert beforehand to instruct classes on what species they might find in a particular area and how to distinguish similar species. Conclusion This project provides a necessary foundation for the success of a digital tree inventory and attainment of TCUSA status. By collecting related but disconnected maps, blueprints, and tree catalogues, the project has created a more centralized, comprehensive data source to guide future work and policy. Future work should attempt to improve the accuracy of data collected and allow students to become actively involved in campus preservation. The eventual completion of a single digital tree map for campus would allow students and facilities staff to efficiently monitor overall tree health and recognize the necessity for maintenance or replacement. This framework should make a 1:1 replacement policy more feasible as well as ensure that historic landscapes are not significantly impacted 9

11 due to negligence or a lack of proper planning. Furthermore, it meets the fifth requirement of the Arbor Day Foundation and moves KU toward its goals of Tree Campus USA status as a part of the Sustainable Campus Grounds Objectives. Arborday.org Works Cited Bernick, Shawn "Defend your territory: knowing the tree pests in your region allows you to develop and implement management strategies" Arbor Age, 31.5 (July-Aug.) p.8 Kansasgis.org KU Center for Sustainability. Building Sustainable Traditions: University of Kansas Sustainability Plan KU Design and Construction Management. The Landscape Master Plan Campus blueprint digital file. Petrides, George A. A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs: Northeastern and north-central United States and southeastern and south-central Canada. NewYork: Houghton Mifflin Co, Partial species inventory from KU Herbarium 10

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